Physics:Quantum materials
Quantum materials is an umbrella term in condensed matter physics that encompasses all materials whose essential properties cannot be described in terms of semiclassical particles and low-level quantum mechanics.[1] These are materials that present strong electronic correlations or some type of electronic order, such as superconducting or magnetic orders, or materials whose electronic properties are linked to non-generic quantum effects – topological insulators, Dirac electron systems such as graphene, as well as systems whose collective properties are governed by genuinely quantum behavior, such as ultra-cold atoms, cold excitons, polaritons, and so forth. On the microscopic level, four fundamental degrees of freedom – that of charge, spin, orbit and lattice – become intertwined, resulting in complex electronic states;[1] the concept of emergence is a common thread in the study of quantum materials.[2]
Quantum materials exhibit puzzling properties with no counterpart in the macroscopic world: quantum entanglement, quantum fluctuations, robust boundary states dependent on the topology of the materials' bulk wave functions, etc.[1] Quantum anomalies such as the chiral magnetic effect link some quantum materials with processes in high-energy physics of quark-gluon plasmas.[3]
History
In 2012, Joseph Orenstein published an article in Physics Today about "ultrafast spectroscopy of quantum materials".[4] Orenstein stated,Template:Quote As a paradigmatic example, Orenstein refers to the breakdown of Landau Fermi liquid theory due to strong correlations. The use of the term "quantum materials" has been extended and applied to other systems, such as topological insulators, and Dirac electron materials. The term has gained momentum since the article "The rise of quantum materials" was published in Nature Physics in 2016.[2] Quoting:Template:Quote
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Cava, Robert; de Leon, Nathalie; xie3, Weiwei (10 March 2021). "Introduction: Quantum Materials" (in en). Chemical Reviews 121 (5): 2777–2779. doi:10.1021/acs.chemrev.0c01322. ISSN 0009-2665. PMID 33715377.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "The rise of quantum materials" (in en). Nature Physics 12 (2): 105. 1 February 2016. doi:10.1038/nphys3668. ISSN 1745-2473. Bibcode: 2016NatPh..12..105..
- ↑ Kharzeev, Dmitri E. (1 March 2014). "The Chiral Magnetic Effect and anomaly-induced transport" (in en). Progress in Particle and Nuclear Physics 75: 133–151. doi:10.1016/j.ppnp.2014.01.002. ISSN 0146-6410. Bibcode: 2014PrPNP..75..133K. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0146641014000039.
- ↑ Orenstein, Joseph (31 August 2012). "Ultrafast spectroscopy of quantum materials" (in en). Physics Today 65 (9): 44–50. doi:10.1063/PT.3.1717. Bibcode: 2012PhT....65i..44O.
Source attribution: Quantum materials